Got an interview for teaching in Turkey tomorrow and the job would either be in Ankara or Kayseri. Can't find much about Kayseri apart from it is industrial. Which one would be better- lifestyle, cost of living etc ?

The cost of living is a lot higher in Ankara than in Kayseri. If you want to save money, Kayseri is a better option. But if you are into night life and fun, Kayseri would not be the right choice.

Thanks for that . Have you lived or been to both?

I lived in Kayseri for a while, and have been to Ankara several times. You just have to make a trade-off. You can easily save money in Kayseri. Rents are cheaper, and you can commute to your workplace on foot. But Ankara is more liberal and it is a cosmopolitan city.

Personally, I like Kayseri much better. In fact on the list of Turkish cities I'd like to live in, it probably comes in third, and definitely first in the "cities without ferries" category.

Kayseri is smaller, cheaper, maintains a central Anatolian charm while still having the amenities of a modern city (seriously, it feels more developed than the European part of Istanbul), and it's mostly navigable on foot. Kayseri is probably more cosmopolitan than it's generally given credit for; I noticed a seemingly disproportionately large number of Westerners and East Asians compared to Antep and Konya (the only Turkish cities of a comparable size and development level), and a larger number of Turks from outside the city. And when I visited I found it more open and forward-looking than any of the smaller Turkish cities I've visited, more so for that matter even than the "big" city of Bursa.

Ankara is a beautiful little Central Anatolian city if you go there as a tourist, but if you try to go outside the city center you'll find that old Angora is now surrounded by an ocean of hideous concrete sprawl. It's a pedestrian nightmare (yes you can use public transit, but I swear the planners there have never heard of a crosswalk). And frankly I really wasn't impressed by the food there (I don't think I had a single meal that was better than mediocre, even when a local took me to his favorite place). But it's not all that expensive compared to Istanbul or the country you probably come from, though certainly more expensive than most of Turkey.

I'm pretty sure that Kayseri has some nightlife, though I don't go for that myself and I don't know if there are many bars. A concern I've heard from many foreign male acquaintances (and that has now begun to worry me a bit since I'm in the boonies myself) is that is that supposedly outside of the big three, it's rather hard for non-Muslim men to date Turkish chicks. But I assume from your handle that you're a woman, and from what I hear from my female foreigner friends you'll have no problem getting Turkish men anywhere in Turkey. (If you're gay of course go for Ankara, seriously no question there. People are far more open about homosexuality in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir than in most of the country.)

Unless you're really into heavy drinking and late-night partying, if you have to choose between Ankara and Kayseri, I'd strongly advise taking Kayseri and take a short trip to Ankara for the museums and historic sites.